The bed gravity was particularly strong this morning for Asuka. The winter sky was gray with clouds, and the sun was nowhere to be seen despite it being almost noon. She was feeling lazy after a late night Angel attack, which had delayed her getting into bed until very early that morning. It had been three years since she had started piloting Unit 02 in Tokyo-3, but battling the Angels had never become any less exhausting. Because of this, she reasoned that she could afford to relax for a little while longer. It would probably do her a little good, in fact.
She got out of her bed and stretched lazily, heading to the bathroom to take a nice shower. She had her own apartment now, much preferable than having to share with Shinji and Misato. Especially that pervert Shinji, she thought to herself peevishly. She walked by her bedroom window and barely recognized the world outside. Snow had apparently been falling all morning, covering everything in sight with a thick blanket of the soft white stuff. It had been the first snow anyone had seen in years, and no one was prepared for it. She thought of her car in the alley below and how she would have to shovel it out. This prospect dismayed her and she sighed with annoyance. She and Rei, who also lived in the apartment, would have to get NERV headquarters later somehow. She decided to take a quick shower and get the job over with.
After freshening up for twenty minutes, Asuka walked to the kitchen. This was also where the front door was located, which led down to the main parking lot of the apartment complex. She was about to grab her coat and prepare to go outside when the door opened. Rei appeared in the doorway, her cheeks flushed and snowflakes littered about her pale blue hair. "Good morning," she said, kicking her wet boots off at the door and sinking into a chair by the table. "You were out late last night."
"Yeah, it was crazy. They said that Angel came from right out of the water, undetected. They're getting to be more and more of a nuisance," she said.
"I'm sorry I could not assist you," Rei said quietly. Her Eva had been heavily damaged a few days prior and was still in repair.
Asuka waved it off. "Hey, don't worry about it. I got rid of the pathetic thing by myself anyway, no problem at all." She said, zipping up her jacket. "How about all that snow outside?"
"There's so much of it. Fairly deep, too," Rei observed. She had taken off her own coat and was now brewing tea by the stove. "But I like it. White is a nice color."
Asuka sighed. "You would say that. But the deeper it is, the harder it will be to get rid of. I'm gonna go down and see how much I can get shoveled away from the car."
"No need. I already cleared the driveway."
"Huh?! There's no way you could have gotten it done yourself! There's at least a foot of snow out there," Asuka said, flabbergasted.
Rei merely shrugged. "You can inspect it for yourself, if you like," she said before going back to her tea.
Asuka stepped outside their apartment just in time to get hit in the face with a heavy gust of wind. She pulled her jacket more tightly around herself and made her way down to ground level. A shovel was leaning against the wall of the building, fresh snow still on the tip. Asuka usually parked her car in a small alcove between the apartment complex she lived in and a small, abandoned building right next to it. Sure enough, the entire area around it had been cleared, so that the car had a clear path to the road. Rei had even dusted off the entire car, its shiny red surface gleaming.
Asuka went back upstairs to find Rei in their living room, drinking her tea on the couch and staring out the window at the snow. The television had been turned on to the news, but apparently Rei had quickly lost interest. Asuka took a seat beside her on the couch. "You're always trying to outdo me, aren't you?" she said cheerily.
Rei set her tea on the floor and looked at Asuka. "That wasn't why I did it. Not being able to help you with the Angel last night made me feel a bit useless. I did that to make up for it."
Asuka rolled her eyes and moved onto Rei's lap, straddling her and putting her hands on the girl's shoulders gently. "Hey, don't be stupid."
Rei flushed in surprise and looked up at Asuka. "Stupid?"
"Calling yourself useless when you're obviously not. Especially not to me," she said, leaning down and kissing the blushing girl right on the lips. Rei made a soft sound of delight and put her arms around Asuka's waist, pulling her closer. Asuka's hands moved along Rei's torso, tracing patterns with her fingers and she continued to kiss Rei deeply. Their mouths opened to each other and Asuka moaned loudly. Asuka was always loud, but Rei never minded. She adored the sound, craved it.
They broke apart after a while, starry eyed and out of breath, and Asuka pressed her forehead against Rei's. "There. See how important you are?"
Rei nodded, reaching for Asuka's hands with hers and lacing their fingers together. "I do."